The Only One I Loved
by Lady Atarah
Summary: Seiran has served the Kou family and the royal household for long. How does he move on?


Seiran sighed as he watched the boys chase after each other with their specially crafted swords in the palace courtyard. Apart from their mother's eyes, they were the spitting image of their father, Ryuuki. He looked on as the older twin attempted to cut off a lock of his brother's hair.

Seiran loved these boys. He looked at them like his own sons, not that he would know what that felt like.

The rain spluttered down in huge curtains and the boys rushed into their quarters abandoning their swords. He sighed as he walked over to pick up the swords. It was on these very grounds that he had first learnt how to hold a sword. The same palace that deemed him as the most distinguished among the princes.

The same king who had presented him with Kanshoe and Bakuya. The same king who had banished him, for a crime that was not his own... He looked up at the sky as he thought of all the could have been his, a powerful kingdom that he would have inherited with grace, a loving younger brother to care, strong heirs and his own beautiful queen.

His term of service to the emperor and the queen, Shuurei, was coming to an end. Although both Shouka And Shuurei had repeatedly told him that his debt to them was long cleared, he just didn't have it in him to leave them, the kind people who had taken him in as a child when his own family had abandoned him. After madam died, they needed him more than ever. But things were different now, with Shouka having long left this world and Shuurei happy in her place beside the emperor. Seiran had made up his mind.

It was time for him to move on.

At dusk the next day, Seiran found himself outside the Kouga house. No, he wasn't the sort of man to indulge in the sensual pleasures of this world, but would rather save others from it. Especially those he deemed as its victims.

He looked at the receptionist with his ever serious expression and handed her a letter. It had no name and caused the young receptionist to look up at him with a puzzled expression. He merely said "the Lady". The girl nodded in response and left with the letter to an inside room. Seiran sat himself in the feather-covered recliners opposite the receptionist's desk.

This was not his first visit to the Kouga house nor his first meeting with the first time, he had come to seek the Lady to protect his precious Shuurei. After several visits in the following years, all pertaining to Shuurei and her well being, Seiran had made a more personal visit. Known to be a man of honour, the Lady was more than surprised when he specifically requested her presence. They had spoken all night, in the Lady's personal chambers, of matters that truly caught her off guard. In response, she had given him that letter and asked that it be returned to her only when...

"My prince it is an honor to have you here. Please follow me." Yes. She knew of his royal lineage. He stood up and quietly followe her to her chambers where he had last set foot not more than a year before. Ever being the gentleman, he waited for the lady to be seated before he helped himself into her wine red love seat. Kuchou was as beautiful as always, her tall lean figure, long dark hair and porcelain skin. They sat in silence as they looked at each other in admiration.

"My Lady, it has been a year." He decided to break the silence first. "My dear prince-" "No. Please hear me speak." She nodded towards him and he continued, "as you know, my term of service to the royal family is coming to an end this week. I have been deep in thought the past year and I have decided what I want to do in the future, and I think you have known the answer all along."

With that he paused. Kouchou, who had her head bent in deep thought the whole time, did not look up at him. Seeing this as a sign to continue, he said "I want to be a normal citizen, but seeing as the emperor knows my true identity, he has already designated me as one of the senior advisers of the court and has kept me confined to the imperial palace. I even have my own personal chambers in the royal household. I have enough to keep me well for the rest of my life, except for the one thing that I truly desire."

He got up from the mauve love seat and sat beside Kuchou, taking her soft white hand in his rough calloused ones. As he looked at her, he saw crystal tears staining her satin dress, something that the past leader of an underground mafia would have never dared to show in font of her subordinates or colleagues, for under that bold and authoritative woman was a delicate, ethereal beauty who still cried over her pitiable state in life. He could still remember the first time he saw her, all those years ago in her parents' house.

"How can you love someone as tainted as me? HOW?" She buried her face into his chest and sobbed, using her palms to support herself on him.

"You know why. I told you once didn't I , my dear Kuchou..." He gently wrapped his arms around her and stayed silent as he reminisced that night.

" _What brings you here noble sir?" She had asked him._

 _"Determination to win the lady of my heart's desire." He replied._

 _"And who may that be, young sir?" She asked, with a michievous glint in her eyes._

 _"The young woman I fell in love with all those years ago when she was a child in her parents house, in a village outside Kiyou."_

 _He continued, "the young lady who used to walk by the cherry blossoms outside Kiyou, her tender hands laden with heavy buckets of water. The strong lady who refused my help every single time I asked the very lady who tended to my wounds when my master left me after sword practice."_

 _By now, a look of epiphany had washed over her as she realized who it was she was with. Who would have thought the mighty prince Seien would remember a mere girl like her after so many years. She smiled to herself as she remembered having a childish_ _infatuation for the young prince. She didn't realize that she had voiced out her thoughts._

 _He chuckled briefly before adopting a more serious tone, "the lady who worked hard to help her sick parents. The lady who gave herself to this House to support her parents. The lady, who through her charismatic personality and hard work, went to become the Lady of that place. The lady who protects the innocent and commands authority in her territory with the power and courage of a lioness. The same lady who still holds a place in my heart."_

 _Kuchou silently go up and went into her private study._ _After a few minutes, she re-entered the room with a note in her hand. Handing it to the now standing prince she said, "you are still obligated to the royal household. Do your duty to them. In a year from today, if this lady still holds a place in your heart, then bring this letter to the Kouga house and you shall get what your heart so desires." Handing him the note, she left._

Seiran shifted in his seat as he lifted her face to see him. Her beautiful tear-stained face tugged at his heart. Resting his forehead against hers, he whispered to her, " you are the only woman I have ever loved in this way, and I would love to spend the rest of my life with you." She nodded her head and her pink lips slowly spread into the sweetest smile he had ever seen and more tears slid down her white, porcelain skin.

She once again buried her face into his chest and sobbed. He only continued to hold her, except this time in a more possessive manner, like that of a man holding his beloved. The wind gushed into the room through the window enveloping him in her lilac perfume. He gently removed his hands from her back and cupped her cheeks. Then slowly, he bent down and gave her the most gentle kiss of love she had ever received. The only one that was chaste.

 ** _Two Years Later..._**

"Née-chan she is so beautiful, just like you!" Shuurei held the young baby girl to her former mistress. Seiran, who had just entered the room, stopped-short when he saw his little princess. She had his silver hair and her mother's face. He rushed to their side and stroked his wife's forehead.

Looking at his baby girl and then to her mother, Seiran could not imagine his life getting any better. Locking his gaze with hers, she said, "I think this is a new beginning for us, isn't it my prince?" Seiran just looked down at his child and smiled.

 **Author's Note:**

 **This was my first story, now edited. I hope you like it.**

 **Please leave your review!**


End file.
